Annual Oak Bay treasure hunt benefits charities

Oak Bay’s annual ultimate community garage sale, Garagellennium, is on. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Oak Bay residents will be cleaning out their basements and refilling them with treasures from their neighbours.

The event, now in its 13th year, was initially started as part of Oak Bay’s centennial celebrations. Each year, between 150 to 200 people register to be a part of the sale. Two of those trash to treasure types are Hilary Knight and Alastair Crow.

Crow is so enthusiastic about the event that he’s holding two garage sales, two houses apart at 2225 and 2275 Lansdowne Road.

“It’s my house as well as my grandmother’s house,” he said. Part of the reason he needs two locations is because of the amount of items he’s gathered to sell. “I participated in the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life last year,” he said. “It’s such a great charity, such a great cause.” Crow will donate the money he earns at his garage sales to the Relay for Life.

“Last year a friend asked me to come by and I thought it was a good thing to do. Since then my uncle has been diagnosed with brain cancer and he’s struggling through – it’s kind of a more personal thing now,” he said.

His Relay for Life teammates have helped him gather a variety of items for the sale, so he’s ready for the crowds. “My place is really full.”

For Knight, the fundraising aspect is secondary to the community building that Garagellennium provides. “I’m a veteran,” she said. “I think I’ve been to every one since they started. It’s such fun. It’s just a big social event. You see some really cool dogs, people come with their dogs, there’s dogs at the different houses and cats come out too. It’s just a nice neighbourhood feeling and you get to pick up great stuff.”

Some of Knight’s great stuff includes plenty of books. “I’m a book hoarder,” she admitted. However, her big book clean-out will benefit The Land Conservancy’s Abkhazi Garden. “I’m a member of the Land Conservancy, and every time I go to the Abkhazi Garden I think about how they have this honking big mortgage and how they did a fantastic job of saving it from developers,” she said. “Just the thought of somebody ripping out those gorgeous rhododendrons and putting up condos is absurd. So if I can help keep such a jewel in the community we can still have it down the road.”

Her books include everything from children’s stories to academic books to some self help books. “I might be beyond help,” she joked.

For more information and a list of homes participating go to oakbaygaragesale.com or see page A6 of the Friday, June 8 Oak Bay News.

The Relay for Life, which helps fund cancer research and enhance the quality of life of Canadians living with cancer, is on Saturday, June 23 from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., more information can be found at relaybc.ca. Learn more about the Land Conservancy at blog.conservancy.bc.ca.